St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls
"...St. Aggie's might be the closest an owl can get to Hagsmire, the owl hell, without dying." :—Narrator, The Siege :'' '' St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, or St. Aggie's, is a home for owlets that they snatch from nests. They apparently planned to control the owl universe, but they were conquered by the Pure Ones. Questions (and, by extension, knowledge in general) were banned. History Before the Books St. Aegolius was founded at an unspecified time. However, what is known about its past is that one leader of St. Aggie`s died, and that for a year, two owls, Skench, Ork, a Long-Eared Owl, fought for the title of Ablah General, or leader of St. Aggie's. One day, Ork tries to snatch Bess, daughter of a Boreal Owl named Grimble. However, Grimble kills him with his bare talons. Skench and her first lieutenant, Spoorn, persuade Grimble to join St. Aggie's. Grimble, not knowing St. Aggie's true intentions, agrees, and for the next few years, he successfully pretends to be moon blinked. ''The Capture Soren, soon after being pushed out of the nest by his brother, Kludd, is snatched by a St. Aggie's patrol and meets Gylfie, a tiny Elf Owl. They soon realize the purpose of St. Aggie's, which is to control the owl universe. They use a method called moon blinking, forcing young owlets to sleep under the moon's full shine. When owls sleep under the moon's full shine, they fall in sort of a hypnotic state, and they become docile and unquestioning. They secretly resist, but they are caught, and are subjected to moon scalding. However, they still resist by reciting the Legends of Ga'Hoole, and discover that one owl, Hortense, or 12-8, is not moon blinked but is sneaking eggs out from St. Aggie's for some eagles to return to the egg's parents. However, she was caught and pushed off a cliff. It was not discovered until much later that she was caught by Streak, one of the eagles and taken to Ambala. Later, Soren and Gylfie suspect that Grimble is not truly moon blinked, and they confront him. He admits that he is not moon blinked and agrees to helping to teach them to fly away. However, on the night that Soren and Gylfie are about to leave, Skench catches and kills Grimble. However, Soren and Gylfie escape. A St. Aggie's patrol consisting of Jatt, Jutt, and 47-2 soon catches up to them in Kuneer, but the patrol is killed by two eagles. The Siege Soren and Gylfie, now living at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, are sent by Ezylryb to return to St. Aggie's along with Twilight, Digger, Ruby, Martin, and Otulissa (together, the Chaw of Chaws) on a spy mission to find out if Pure Ones are infiltrating the canyons, which have the largest known supply of flecks in the owl world. They are to pretend that they got sucked up to the Northern Kingdoms by williwaws, but found them too disorganized, with dozens of constantly warring clans. Upon arriving, they are interrogated by Skench and Spoorn, and soon they are given numbers and taken to their pits. Soren meets Finny, his old pit guardian, though luckily she doesn't recognize him. It soon turns out that she is a cannibal and egg-eater. Meanwhile, Otulissa learns that Pure Ones actually have infiltrated the canyons, placing flecks in the egg's mossy nests, but a group of turnfeathers are taking them back out again. Skench asks Otulissa of the powers of flecks, and she replies with false information. She manages to grant the entire Chaw of Chaws a post in the library. They manage to escape by turning the turnfeathers and the Pure Ones against one another, and they leave in the chaos. The Shattering While the Battle of The Beaks takes place, Kludd, leading the Pure Ones, conquers St. Aggie's. The Burning Skench and Spoorn are sheltered by the Great Tree for some time. During the Battle of the Burning, Skench and Spoorn, along with former St. Aggie's owls, turn against the Guardians and are killed. Locations Battle Claws Chamber Little is known about this area other than that it contains the battle claws harvested from battlefields. Eggorium The eggorium is an area where all the eggs that have been snatched are organized by species and sent to the hatchery. Glaucidium The glaucidium is a "deep box canyon." It is here that the sleep march occurs during full shine. This is also where moon blinking occurs. Hatchery The hatchery is where eggs from the eggorium are sat on by owls called "broodies" until they hatch. The hatchlings are then given a designated name and number and taken to a pit. Inventorium The inventorium is where all the assorted materials from the pelletorium are organized and brought into the library. Library The library contains thousands of flecks and hundreds of books. No one is ever allowed inside other than the Ablah general and the first lieutenant. It is guarded day and night. Pits The pits at St. Aegolius are where snatched owls spend their time when they are not on duty or in the glaucidium. There are dozens of pits for owlets but only about two for newly arrived mature owls. Each pit has a pit guardian, whose job is to be nice to the owls and bribe them with treats and naps to put that owl in their debt and, in extension, in that of St. Aggie's in general. Pelletorium The pelletorium is a box canyon like the glaucidium where owls dissect pellets and take out certain materials that the owl has ingested. There is a strict hierarchy here: newly arrived owls are third-degree pickers, and they pick for larger objects, such as pebbles, bones, and teeth. Second-degree pickers take out feathers and fur, while first-degrees look for flecks. When Soren and Gylfie were at the pelletorium, their guide was an owl whose number designation was 47-2. Moon Scalding Chamber The moon scalding chamber is where the owls who resist moon blinking go. It is made out of rocks and bounces to moon's shine all over the chamber. Owls usually only go there if they worked in the Eggorium or if they resist moon blinking. As the name suggests, the owls go in there to be moon scalded. The only way to resist is to recite the Legends. Practices Number Ceremony and Specialness When an owl first arrives at the canyons, it is given a number instead of a name, such as 12-1, 12-8, or 47-2. This is called the "number ceremony." Eventually, an owl will gain a name instead of a number (example: Grimble was once 28-5). This ceremony is called "Specialness." Sleep March The sleep march occurs during full shine, when the moon is at its fullest. All owls are forced to march and repeat their names, which causes them to become not names but words with no meaning. At regular intervals, the command is issued for all owls to tilt their heads upward and sleep. This leads to moon blinking, which erases an owl's individuality, and they become mindless slaves of the St. Aggie's owls. Ways to keep from being moon blinked are to think about certain things (such as flying) and not fall asleep and to stay under the shade to evade the moon. Moon Scalding Moon scalding is a process in which an owl is placed in a certain chamber during full shine where the walls reflect all moonlight towards the owls, which is similar to moon blinking, only it is much more powerful. It is rarely used, mostly when an owl is discovered not to be moon blinked or when an owl is being moved from the hatchery or eggorium to another assignment. A way to counter moon scalding is to repeat the legends of Ga'Hoole in your head or under your breath. Laughter Therapy Laughter therapy is used when an owl asks a question. The owl is then carried up (painfully) to a ledge, while the owls below laugh at the owl until the air is shaking with laughter. Then the owl in question is plucked and delivered to a nurse while he or she heals. Owls from St. Aegolius Leaders Commanding Owls Ork, Western Screech Owl, ''Otus kennicottii (Deceased) Skench, Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus (Deceased) Spoorn, Western Screech Owl, Otus kennicottii (Deceased) Others Finny, Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, a pit guardian (Deceased) Grimble, Boreal Owl, Aegolius funerus, a guardian of the library (Formerly; Deceased) Jatt, Long-Eared Owl, Asio o''tus , a sublieutenant (Deceased) Jutt, Long-Eared Owl, Asio o''tus '', a sublieutenant (Deceased} Tumak, director of the battle claw repository (Status Unknown) Unk, Great Horned Owl, ''Bubo Virginianus, a pit guardian (Status Unknown) Snatched Owls Ga'Hoolian spies Digger, Burrowing Owl, Speotyto cunicularius Gylfie, Elf Owl, Micrathene whitneyi Martin, Northern Saw-Whet Owl, Aegolius acadicus Otulissa, Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis Ruby, Short-Eared Owl, Asio flammeus Soren, Barn Owl, Tyto alba Twilight, Great Gray Owl, Strix nebulosa Pure One spies Flint, Barn Owl, Tyto alba Uklah, Barn Owl, Tyto alba (Formerly) Others Hortense, Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis (deceased) Category:St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls Category:The Capture